


Comparing Scars

by NoelleLilacNotte, Yiiiiikes



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Comparing scars, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Emotional Abuse, Other, Reader Insert, Self Harm, angsty fluff, gender neutral reader, mentions of bullying, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoelleLilacNotte/pseuds/NoelleLilacNotte, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yiiiiikes/pseuds/Yiiiiikes
Summary: Dib catches his s/o during a vulnerable state and tries to help the only way he can think to.
Relationships: Dib Membrane/Reader
Kudos: 36





	Comparing Scars

It had been 4 and a half hours since Dib’s s/o had come to his house from school with a sleepover bag, and it had been 45 minutes since they had gone to take a shower. They’ve been gone for way too long. They never take this long to shower, even that time Zim sent a slime creature to swallow them whole and they tore it open from the inside. Oh shit, Zim. Maybe Zim got to them, maybe they’re kidnapped or collapsed somewhere and they need help, he needs to go save them—! 

“Whoa.” He thought. “Calm down. I’m sure there’s a rational explanation, I’m sure they won’t mind if you check up on them.”

When Dib approached the bathroom door he quickly took note of the fact that he couldn't hear the shower running. There was light peeking out from the bottom of the doorway, but there was almost no sound coming from the room.

He didn't even consider knocking- it would have obviously just been a formality, he knew his lover would open the door for him no matter what. Which is why he was so surprised when he opened the door and they screamed, "don't come in!"

But by the time he had registered the command he was already standing in the bathroom, looking at his half naked lover with blood smeared across their arms and thighs.

The blood shocked him more than the nudity. He’d seen them naked before, but...come to think of it, he hadn’t really seen them. He’d felt them, but the lights had always been off, or their shirt would stay on, or they’d be in places too risky to do anything other than push a skirt aside and lower a pair of pants.

Basically, he’d never seen their arms before, and now he knows why they were so careful to hide them. 

He hadn’t even noticed he was moving until he heard the knife clatter on the tile floor, and felt the familiar sting of the blade on his hand where he’d smacked it.

"Dib, I'm sorry, I didn't plan on doing it I just had to, I don't kn-" y/n was interrupted by Dib grabbing them by the waist and pulling them up off of the bathroom floor. He wanted to comfort them but he didn't know how. So he did the only thing he could think of.

He pulled them back into his room, locked the door, and rolled up his sleeves to reveal a myriad of his own scars.

The look on their face hurt him more than the cut on his palm. He held out his hand, and when they (hesitantly) took it, he guided them to sit with him on his bed. He kept one hand laced with theirs, and held out his other wrist again.

“I did that one after I lost a fight with Zim. He beat me, but he sent me home unscathed. It didn’t feel fair to lose and not get hurt so I did it myself.”

"Dib, I..." They trailed off, they didn't have the words to express what they wanted to say, but Dib understood anyways. He had studied their face so frequently and so vigorously that he knew what every tiny micro expression meant.

This particular expression, with their wide watery eyes and their mouth every so slightly ajar, meant that they were both disturbed and comforted by the revelation of their shared suffering.

They took a deep breath, and pointed to an older, faded scar on their upper arm.

“I did that one when I failed my math final in 9th grade. I felt like a disappointment so I punished myself.”

Dib paused, and took off his coat, exposing both of his scarred arms. He wrapped the black fabric around the pair of them, and held tight to his lover’s hand again.

“I know how it is. To feel like a disappointment I mean. My dad doesn’t respect me or what I do. It sucks.”

“Yes! It feels like shit! It’s hard man, being a kid and trying to do stuff. It sucks and nobody understands!”

“I understand.”

"I know you do, Dib." They whispered and leaned their head on his shoulder. Dib rested his own head on theirs and pressed a kiss to their hair. 

"What about that one?" They asked, fingers tracing over the thickest of Dib's scars.

“...my dad. We were talking about college, and I told him I wanted to major in filmmaking and cryptozoology. He told me I’d never be able to amount to anything if I kept up the ‘fake para-science’.”

“...”

“How about that one?” He asked, pouting at one of their deeper scars.

“Bad day in detention. Some kid was throwing spitballs at me for the whole hour.”

Dib and y/n swapped stories for an hour until all the blood had dried and there were no more tales left to tell. By then they had both shifted into a laying down position. They weren't cuddling like they usually would be, but instead just lying together, turned to face one another. 

"What were these ones for?" Dib asked, tracing the flesh around the fresh cuts, careful not to touch the wounds.

“I...I don’t know. I just felt like I had to today.”

“Do you still feel like that?”

“...no. Not anymore.”

“Ok. We can sleep then, things will be better in the morning.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”


End file.
